Song of Release
Also known as: Song of Liberation, Song of Freeing
A Hurrian epic preserved in Hittite archives in which the storm-god demands that Ebla free its debt-slaves; the city’s refusal brings divine judgment. The poem argues for justice and mercy in kingship through a theological narrative of command, counsel, and retribution.
Description
Known from fragmented Hittite tablets, the Song of Release recounts the storm-god’s demand that the rulers of Ebla grant release to those bound by debt. Divine assemblies debate the command; messengers convey warnings; and Ebla’s refusal culminates in catastrophic punishment. The text intertwines royal ideology with social ethics, presenting debt-release as a cosmic obligation enforced by the gods. Though incomplete, the surviving episodes reveal a didactic narrative that links ritual authority, oathkeeping, and the welfare of dependents to the stability of city and cosmos.
Historiography
The poem survives in Hurrian-Hittite bilingual or Hurrian tablets from Boğazköy/Hattusa (e.g., KBo fragments), copied in the Hittite Empire period. Its language, deities, and geographic focus indicate a west Syrian Hurrian milieu with Levantine connections, centered on Ebla. Reconstruction depends on multiple overlapping fragments, leaving character lists and sequence partly uncertain. Modern scholarship debates its relation to Near Eastern remission traditions and its use within Hittite scribal and ideological programs.
Date Notes
Hurrian composition likely originating in northwestern Syria; preserved in Hittite cuneiform copies from Hattusa dating mainly to the 13th century BCE.
Major Characters
- Teshub
- Hebat
- Allani
- Ishara
- Kumarbi
Myths
- Appeal for the Release of Captives
- Divine Judgment upon the City
Facts
- The text is Hurrian in origin but preserved primarily in Hittite copies from Hattusa.
- Its narrative focuses on the city of Ebla and a divinely mandated release of debt-slaves.
- The storm-god Teshub is the chief divine agent enforcing social justice.
- Scholars compare its ideology to Near Eastern remission edicts without equating it to law code.
- The work is fragmentary; tablet joins and order remain debated.
- The poem integrates theological command with royal ethics and city welfare.
- Hebat appears as consort and queenly counterpart within the divine court.
- The destruction of Ebla functions as a moral exemplum in the narrative logic.
- Transmission in Hittite archives reflects cross-regional literary exchange.
- No single authoritative recension survives; modern editions synthesize multiple fragments.